The Marriage Game
by sakurai-pyon
Summary: Hikaru and Kaoru have a school asignment. Its a marriage assinment. Each person in the Senior class is getting paired in random boy-girl couples and they have to complete asignments while acting as married couples. Who will the boys get paired with? KxOC
1. Chapter 1

**Sakurai: Yo! Wassup all you people out there! I am ready to write this fanfic!**

**Kaoru: So am I! I want to see what the great Sakurai has in store for my love life.**

**Sakurai: That's right! This is going to be a completely different story than you're used to so get ready, get set, and GO! GO READ!**

**Kaoru: Okay then Sakurai… hey Hikaru, what do you think is wrong with our author?**

**Hikaru: I'm not so sure. HEY! YOU!**

**Sakurai: Who me?**

**Hikaru: Yeah you! What is wrong with you?**

**Sakurai: What do you mean? What did I do?**

**Kaoru: Well, for starters you're holding a knife behind your back.**

**Sakurai: *laughs nervously* haha… oh that! That's nothing! Nothing at all…**

**Hikaru: Then why do you have it?**

**Sakurai: Just in case you two try any **_**funny business**_**…**

**Kaoru: You mean you really don't trust us! *pouts* I'm offended. You make us sound like creepy, perverted high schoolers!**

**Sakurai: No! No! I wasn't… I didn't… well… you're kind of… Never mind! I'm sorry!**

**Hikaru: *grumbling* I'm not the creepy one. HE'S the creepy one. **

**Kaoru: *sweat drop* Sakurai does not own OHSCH or any of the characters.**

Kaoru's PoV

My brother, Hikaru, and I were walking to the school auditorium for some assembly they were going to give us. Some of the people walking by, mostly the Gossip Girls, were whispering to each other. Ugh, the Gossip Girls annoyed me the most out of all the stupid, boring people in this school.

In case you're wondering, they're not called the Gossip Girls by anyone except for my brother and I. We had names for all the groups of people at this school, Ouran High School.

The groups were these: The Gossip Girls, self explanatory. The Kiss-ups, who were the ones on the honor society, did community service, and all that teacher's pet kind of stuff. The Cheer Chicks, who were almost as annoying as the Gossip Girls, but since they wore their uniforms were short, Hikaru and I tried to give them a bit of a chance.

Then there were the Chillers, who included the skateboarders, the cool musicians, and all the drop-out type people. Then there were the Goths, also self explanatory. The Club Kids, who were all the people in any sort of club or group or society in the school. There were so many clubs that we were lazy and just grouped them all together.

Then the Powers. They were the "popular" kids in the school. That also included the jocks and sports heads and stuff. Then last but also least, we had the Geeks, who were also self explanatory. Of course there were a few kids here and there that were in no group, but not that many. We called them the Others. Hikaru and I were part of this group.

We walked into the auditorium and sat down. Since we got there slightly early, more people didn't start filing in until about five minutes later. While we waited for them to take their seats we played the 'which teacher is gonna get angry' game.

Whenever we had an assembly, one of the teachers would unsuccessfully try to get the chillers to stop goofing off and pay attention. Sure enough, Mrs. Rantaku walked over to the stands.

As I looked at her boredly, she instructed a few Chillers to get their heads out of their laps and to give her their IPods. They just ignored her and went on with their business. As she continued on with her efforts I started to tune her out and think out the new video game I had just gotten as a present from mom.

Mr. Suoh, our headmaster, walked up to the microphone and cleared his throat. All of us were told that this was a health-and-hygiene assembly. We have had them before, mostly about people smoking in the bathroom or leaving gum under the cafeteria tables. I noticed something was a bit different when the only people I could see were seniors. (In case you don't know, Hikaru and I are seniors too.)

We were all prepared to listen to his long, boring speech, but Mr. Suoh had surprised everyone when he had announced they were all about to participate in a marriage project. All the seniors were going to be paired up into married couples for two weeks and they had to take care of an egg as a child.

"This is going to be fun." Hikaru whispered sarcastically from the seat next to me. I overheard some Gossip Girls in front of me. "This is going to be so romantic! I can't wait!" Are they kidding me? Romantic? "Ohh, I hope I get paired up with Monta! He so dreamy!" Ignoring the rest of their conversation, I looked around the room at everyone else.

Most of them all had the same dreamy look in their eyes, guys and girls both. "I can't wait to get married!" Another Gossip Girl said. "I think a wedding is the most romantic thing in the whole world." I snorted and the girl glared at me.

"Mr. Suoh, will we get to have weddings?" Yet another Gossip Girl called out eagerly. How many of them were there? Hundreds?

"No, you won't have weddings." Mr. Suoh said, looking impatient. There were groans of disappointment, mostly coming from the Gossip Girls.

Mr. Suoh held up his hand for silence. "Marriage isn't just about weddings and flowers and romance. Marriage is about responsibility, the kind you need when you go off to jobs or college next year. That's what I hope you'll learn from this project."

"Will we at least get to pick who we're married to?" A student asked. I didn't know his name; I hardly knew anyone's name. That might be a problem for this project.

"Couples will be selected at random," he answered "I will pick names out of a hat and post a list of couples tomorrow morning."

"The lottery of loooooove," a student sang, quoting the lyrics to a popular new song. The rest of the students burst into laughter and Mr. Suoh clapped his hands. "Quiet, please. Raise your hand if you have something to say." He spotted a student waving his hand in the air. "Toji?"

"I still don't get it," Toji said. "Is this supposed to be part of our science class or health class or what?"

"That's a good question. This is what we called a multidisciplinary unit. It will be part math, part Home Ec., part social studies, part health, and part science. There will be several sections of the project, and you will be expected to complete them all. For example, each couple will be required to work out a household budget, plan a menu, and cook a meal. You'll even get a taste of child rearing. Over the next two weeks, we will have a series of lectures like this one. When necessary, the cafeteria will be turned into a study hall to accommodate such a large group.

He held up a manual. "At the next assembly, every couple will receive a manual like this one. In it, there are several collected essays and articles on marriage and family life. There is a lot of good information in here that I hope will help you complete the project successfully."

I glanced at Hikaru and rolled my eyes. "Mr. Suoh can make anything sound boring-even marriage." I said, keeping my voice down as he continued on with his lectures. He looked out over the group of students.

"I want to emphasize that this project is designed for couples. As of tomorrow morning, when each of you has learned who your spouse is, you must remember that you are a part of a couple. You must learn to think as a couple and you must learn to work as a couple."

"All seminars and study halls must be attended as a couple. No matter how you feel about your spouse, _all_ sections of the project must be completed as a couple. Understood?" There were a few nods around the room, but other than that it was eerily quiet. He smiled at us, but then his face became serious.

"I think you will discover that life will change dramatically after tomorrow morning." He said "So be prepared." I looked around and saw that many of the students were suddenly looking as serious as Mr. Suoh. I felt a flicker of worry, but then dismissed it as just being hungry. After all, this assembly was cutting in to my lunch period.

I still think this marriage project sounds more like fun then work. Besides, stuff like this never gets graded. What could be so hard about it? We might have to write a short paper or something, but mostly it sounded like lectures and study groups.

"We will assemble again tomorrow morning," Mr. Suoh said interrupting my thoughts. "Until then, you are dismissed."

The auditorium erupted into excited chatter and I quickly pulled Hikaru out of his seat and out the door towards the cafeteria. We loaded up our lunch trays with cafeteria goodies and went to the nearest empty seats and dug in. We were extra tired and hungry because we stayed up late last night holding dinner for my mom who was flying in from London.

Her plane was a little, okay _a lot_, late and by the time she got home she went to bed. We were too tired to wait for food, so we went to bed also. In the morning, we slept in and as we rushed out the door, we learned that the cook didn't have time to make us breakfast because mom had kidnapped her to look at her newest designs.

After we finished our food, we got up and got more. As I handed the lady the money and turned around, I crashed into someone, knocking them and their lunch to the floor. Thankfully it was a bento and it was closed so it didn't spill. Wait, that wasn't what I was supposed to be worrying about! The person, the person, where is the person! They weren't on the floor anymore.

I looked up and saw everyone staring. Half at me and the other half at a girl with long black hair, a red and black plaid skirt, and a black jacket running out the cafeteria doors.(Ouran doesn't have uniforms anymore. And they started accepting more and more scholarships. It was about half rich people, half commoner.) I guessed that she was the person I had knocked down, so I grabbed the bento and ran out following her.

I burst into the courtyard, bright sun shining into my eyes. I squinted my eyes and looked. I saw a door closing and a flash of red and black plaid. I threw open the door and ran into a hallway, up stairs, and through another yard. I just want to give this girl her bento back! Why is she running?

Finally, after about twenty minutes of running, I collapsed panting onto a nearby bench panting. I leaned against the bench, stretched my legs out and closed my eyes. I let the sun engulf me with its warm rays and was completely at peace. That is, until I heard a ruffling next to me and a quiet tap-tap-tap of shoes. I opened my eyes wide and jumped off the bench.

The bento was gone and, as I ran in the direction I heard the footsteps going, I discovered that it was in the hands of the plaid-skirt girl. I caught up to her a bit easier this time grabbed her wrist, jerking her to a stop. She whirled around to face me and I finally got a good look at her.

She was about three or four inches shorter than me and her hair reached about halfway down her back. She tried to pull her arm away, but I didn't let go.

"Why did you run?" I asked curiously. No one at this school was very interesting, and this girl seemed to be coming close to the interesting mark, so I wanted to know more.

She didn't answer, only succeeded in freeing her arm. Before I could stop her, she was running out the school gates and down the block. I decided to classify her in the group Others. It didn't completely fit her, but oh well. Maybe I'd think of a new group with Hikaru later.

_The next morning…_

I walked into the hallway and found it bustling with activity. Mostly seniors wandering the halls. The couple postings hadn't been put up yet and everyone was interesting in finding out who their "spouse" was. I hate to admit it, but I was kind of interested too.

Mrs. Rantaku walked up to Hikaru and I and handed us two name tags. I put the one that said "Kaoru Hitachiin" on the front of my shirt and walked deeper into the sea of seniors. I leaned against a locker that didn't have too many people around it and was soon joined by Hikaru, who was now wearing his nametag also.

"Do you have anyone you want to get paired with?" Hikaru asked, just trying to pass the time and not really caring about my answer. I shook my head and we stared at the crowd in silence.

Soon the noise level grew considerably and I looked around to see what the commotion was about. Mr. Suoh was walking out of his office and quickly headed for the bulletin board.

"Everyone stand back! Get into a line right now or you have detention!" I don't blame him for getting angry; all the students had crowded him immediately and nearly squished him as flat as a pancake.

The kids slowly got into a line, but I stayed where I was. I was going to wait until the line died down a bit. It's not like I was in a hurry. About ten minutes later, the crowd had dispersed and only a few students remained. I strolled up to the bored and closed my eyes.

_Not a Gossip Girl, Not a Gossip Girl_ I thought to myself. If I got paired with one, I might not live to the end of this project.

I scanned the list and found my name. Kaoru Hitachiin….. Kana Chikoku. Never heard of her.

I walked around the hallways hoping I'd find her. (Mr. Suoh gave us free time to look for our partners during first period. We had to be at an assembly with them for second period and he didn't want any excuses.) I asked two teachers and they said she spent a lot of time in the library. Great, a Kiss-up! At least she's not a Gossip Girl, and maybe she'll do all the hard work and let me take it easy.

I got more excited as I came closer to the library. As I rounded the corner I knocked into someone and we both fell on the floor. I looked up and saw that it was the black-haired girl. (I would have called her the red and black plaid skirt girl, but today she had on a completely black skirt.)

Why was I always bumping into her? I got up and held out my hand to her. She looked at it and stood up on her own, brushing her skirt off. I looked at her and my eyes drifted towards her nametag.

Kana Chikoku. Found her.

**Sakurai: So? Whad'ya think?**

**Kaoru: Good good!**

**Sakurai: thank thanks, but I asked the readers. Not you.**

**Kaoru: Haha oh sorry. HEY READERS! PLEASE REVIEW!**

**Sakurai: Yes! PLEASE! Review like you life depended on it!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Sakurai: Hello. I am here. I am sorry that it took me so long to get the next chapter up.**

**Kaoru: Hey, whatcha bein' so formal about?**

**Sakurai: Just getttin that out of the way so I could have a little more fun with this.**

**Kaoru: Okay… So do you have any ideas that could make this disclaimer funny?**

**Sakurai: Nope! You?**

**Kaoru: No…**

**Hikaru: Just get this over with and get to the story.**

**Sakurai: Fine! No need to be so pushy!**

**Kaoru: Sakurai does not own any of the OHSHC characters or the show itself. All rights to the other characters!**

**Sakurai: Story time! Gather around children!**

**Hikaru and Kaoru: Yay!**

I looked at the girl standing in front of me. Kana Chikoku. She looked up at me slightly annoyed, but mostly uncaring.

"So you're Kana?" I asked casually, shoving my hands in my pockets

"No, I'm wearing this nametag as a _fashion statement_." She looked away at me and towards a group of Gossip Girls. My eye twitched with slight anger, but I ignored it.

"No need to be sarcastic." I said, walking around her and towards the direction of my locker. Kana followed me, trying to match my pace. This marriage was getting off to a good start.

We walked silently until we reached my locker. I entered to combination into the lock and opened the door. "I have to go to the bathroom." Kana muttered beside me. "Be right back." As I took the books I needed out of my locker, I saw her walk past the closest ladies room and around a corner.

'Strange.' I thought to myself. 'Maybe she just doesn't like that bathroom.' I closed the door and put the lock back on. Just as I turned around, the happy face of Satoru Minoto was smiling at me.

I met Satoru last year and he insisted on becoming friends with me, not that I have a problem with it. Satoru is your average nice guy. I have nothing against him, so I don't shut him out like the others.

"What's up Kaoru?" He asked adjusting the books in his hands. "Not much." I responded. "You get your marriage partner yet?"

"Yeah. Her name's Aiko. She's really nice. We're perfect for each other really. We agree on everything."

"So you like this girl?" I asked, starting to walk towards the auditorium, hoping Kana would meet me there. Satoru shrugged innocently. "Not sure. She's really nice though. What group is your partner in?"

"I put her in Others for now, but it doesn't seem just right." I said. Oh, and to all of you readers out there, Satoru is the only other person besides Hikaru and I that knows about our people-categorizing system. He so average, I had no problem sharing when he asked.

"Where is Aiko now?" I asked, just making conversation while I was actually searching for Hikaru. We rounded a corner and I could see students filing into the auditorium. I leaned against a wall, scanning the crowd for Kana and/or Hikaru. I would've waited inside on the bleachers, but you can't go in without your spouse.

Satoru stood next to me, searching the crowd for his wife also. We waited about 20 minutes and I became afraid that she had run away again. Another few minutes and the assembly would start. Mr. Suoh came by with a stack of project manuals in his hand.

"We're about to start, Satoru, Kaoru. You two better get inside. We've got a lot of important information to go over." "Okay, Mr. Suoh," Satoru said following him to the doorway.

"Wait a minute." Mr. Suoh stopped and turned to face us. "Where are your spouses?"

"They're not here yet." I said, looking down the hallway again. No sign of Kana. Mr. Suoh shook his head. "I'm sorry. But you'll have to wait until they get here before you can take your seats."

"But what if they don't show?" I protested, fearing that it might be true." Mr. Suoh shrugged. "Then you'll have a big problem."

Satoru became silent besides me. He obviously didn't want to be part of any argument with a teacher. "But that's not fair. Why should I miss the assembly because of her?" I felt the heat rise to my face as I became angrier. This guy always left me frustrated and powerless at the end of our conversations.

"You're right. It's _not_ fair that you should miss out on something important because she isn't here. So I think that, when she does get here, you should discuss that with her. Married partners must be able to rely on one another to live up to their obligations and responsibilities. When one partner fails to do that, the other partner is often penalized."

"But…that's…it's not…" I sputtered, my anger and frustration making it hard to think of anything to say. "Tell Kana," Mr. Suoh said calmly. "You were both aware that this was a team effort. She's the one who's letting you down here. Not me."

Mr. Suoh stepped inside the auditorium and firmly shut the door in our faces. I stared at the door in disbelief. If that damn Kana doesn't get here soon, I might go insane. And that idiotic Mr. Suoh. He was acting as though it was my responsibility to make sure Kana was there.

At that moment, I saw Kana coming around the corner, walking with slowly with another girl who, by Satoru's reaction, I guessed was Aiko. They were holding hands, but it didn't seem strange to me at all. Or maybe I was just too angry with her to care.

"Where have you been?" I demanded as soon as Kana was close enough. I saw her tighten her grip on Aiko's hand but she said nothing and avoided my gaze. "Well?" I pressed.

"Just shut up idiot." Aiko quietly, said glaring at me. I was surprised because Satoru had been telling me how nice she was. I looked at him but he appeared not to have heard it.

"The assembly is starting." He said, so we followed him as he opened the door and led us into the auditorium. Mr. Suoh was already up on the podium giving instructions as Satoru found seats for all four of us together.

"Household budgeting is extremely important," He was saying. Behind him were several large pie-charts and graphs on poster boards. "As part of your assignment, you will be expected to estimate your projected income as a couple and plan accordingly. Behind me you will see that I have compiled statistics based on national averages with regard to utility costs, housing costs, household expenses, and interest rates. You will be needing this information when you plan your budgets so please take notes."

I leaned back on the seat, starting to relax. Next to me, Kana opened her notebook and took a pencil from her bag. I saw her glance in my direction and then look back at her notebook with a frown on her face. "Aren't you going to take notes?" She whispered, a hint of anger in her voice.

"We don't both need to take notes," I answered coolly, leaning farther back in my seat. "We're a team, remember?" She looked at me for a moment before going back to her notes. Her pencil moved furiously across the notebook page.

I smiled smugly to myself, happy with the answer I just gave her. What was her problem, anyway? "What is your problem?" I heard a female voice hiss at me from the direction of Kana. I turned to see that Kana had switched seats with Aiko, who was glaring at me and taking notes.

"Me?" I said sitting up in my seat. "She's the one who disappears then comes back late and doesn't say anything about it!" I heard the Aiko make a sound close to a growl, but I pretended not to hear.

Mr. Suoh began to circulate the project manuals. "One per couple," He reminded us, handing the stack of booklets to the nearest student. "By the way, we will have another assembly tomorrow morning. And there will be no fifth period tomorrow afternoon." He announced. "At fifth period, we will assemble in the cafeteria for a study hall, where you can begin working together on your budgets. I'd like to see preliminary drafts as soon as possible. Final budgets must be submitted in writing at the end of the project. And yes, they will be graded. In fact, every section of this project will be graded."

When the manuals came to me, I didn't even glance at them. Instead I passed them to a glaring Aiko. I ignored her and looked around at the people in the bleachers. I spotted Hikaru talking to a short-brown-haired girl, who I guessed was his spouse. 'At least _they're_ getting along.' I said to myself.

Hikaru's PoV

_Ugh. Graded_. I groaned inwardly. I looked back at my notebook, where I was putting the finishing touches on a very unflattering caricature of my marriage partner, Haruhi. She's nice and we get along fine.

I looked at the words she wrote in her notebook. She seemed like a Club Kid and took pride in her studies, but right now she was distracted by something. On her page were some notes about utility costs, but mostly the page was covered with doodles and scribbles.

I leaned over and whispered, "We'll go broke if you're in charge of anything." She looked at me. "What are you talking about?" She demanded. "You put down a million dollars a month for electricity," I said, laughing. She looked down at her notebook confused, as if she just noticed the excessive amount of zeroes on the page. Her cheeks flushed as she began to erase her mistakes.

"Forget it," I said "We're probably going to fail this whole thing anyway." I absolutely knew that his wasn't true. I was just trying to tease her because she seemed so distracted. "I can't afford to fail." She retorted, hinting that my teasing wasn't working the way I had planned. Unfortunately, I got the hint a bit late and continued talking.

"I'll bet you can't." I teased. "You airhead types aren't exactly whizzes at school." She turned to me and gave me a level stare. Meanwhile, Mr. Suoh was going on about the importance of teamwork. "Oh yeah?" She said, placing her pencil down on her book. "I haven't seen _your_ name on the honor roll lately."

"Maybe because you don't know how to spell it."

"I know how to spell it." Haruhi snapped. "B-O-N-E-H-E-A-D!" I threw back my head and laughed. I really didn't have a comeback for that. Mr. Suoh frowned in our direction and we both ducked down a little in our seats.

"Don't forget," Mr. Suoh said, just before he dismissed everyone for lunch. "I expect you all to sit with your spouses every day in the cafeteria. You should take that time to study the materials you have been given and to discuss them." There was a heavy silence in the auditorium as the students collected their papers and notebooks and began to file out.

"Hey." I said to her as she began to descend the bleachers. "Hey, Haruhi!" She was clearly ignoring me. Shoot. "Hey airhead!" That caught her attention. She stopped moving and turned around, smiling sweetly and mockingly. "Yes bonehead?" I smiled, sensing the friendship repairing between us.

"I'm starving, let's head straight to the cafeteria." She nodded her head. "I want you to meet my brother Kaoru." She nodded again. "I know him." She said. "He's your identical twin brother, right?"

I raised an eyebrow at her as we went through the door and into the hall. "You know us?" We arrived at her locker and I leaned against the wall as she did the combination. "I know everyone really." She answered, opening the door and putting some books inside. "I helped out the school nurse last year. So that means I got a peek at everyone's files." I smiled at the thought of her poking around people's files. Didn't really fit her personality.

We walked to the cafeteria and onto the lunch line. I handed her a tray and then grabbed one for myself. Once we piled our plates high with food, we walked around until I spotted Kaoru, Satoru and who I guessed were their partners.

I pointed them out to Haruhi and once she saw them, she stopped in her tracks. "Uh-oh."

"What's wrong?"

"Is _that girl_ your brother's marriage partner?" She asked, nodding her head in the direction of the black-haired girl sitting next to my brother.

"Uh, yeah, I guess. Why?"

"Oh-gee. Well, then your brother has a bit of a situation on his hands."

"What do you mean?"

"That's Kana Chikoku. She's known by all the teachers from having Androphobia."

"Huh?"

Aiko's Pov

"Would you like some of my French fries, Aiko?" I smiled at Satoru. He is the nicest boy I have ever met. I eyed the French fries. They looked good, and I was still hungry. But I've already eaten two slices of pizza. If I accepted the fries, Satoru might think I ate like a pig.

"No, thank you." I said with a sweet smile. "I'm too full to eat another bite." A strange growling noise came from the direction of my stomach. I felt a blush creeping up my neck. Satoru frowned. "Did you hear something?"

"I think it's the garbage disposal in the kitchen," I said, hoping he didn't notice my blush. "Would you like my pie?" I offered quickly. "Don't you want it?" Satoru asked.

I shook my head. "Oh, no. I never eat desserts. I don't even know why I took it." "I'll take a little piece," Satoru said. "But only if you promise to eat the rest."

He smiled, and my stomach did a little flip-flop. Suddenly, I wasn't really hungry anymore. While he took a clean fork and divided the pie, I looked at poor Kana across the table. Her face was down and she just stared at the apple in front of her.

I suddenly felt guilty for liking this project. While I was busy being happy and getting to know Satoru, Kana was suffering. This stupid project.

Kana's PoV

I looked up from the apple at Aiko. She was looking at me, concerned. 'Are you okay?' she mouthed. I shrugged and then looked back at my apple. It didn't look appetizing at all. "You gonna eat that?" Said a voice to my right. I jumped, glanced at Kaoru and shook my head.

He grabbed the apple from in front of my and with a loud crunch, started eating it. I sighed and found a new spot on the table to stare at. This was going to be a very long project.

**Sakurai: DOOONEE!**

**Kaoru: Wow, a lot happens in there.**

**Hikaru: Yeah, I can't wait to see what happens next.**

**Sakurai: You'll just have to wait until the next chapter! Read and Review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Sakurai: Hey hey hey! What up party people!**

**Kaoru: it's about time you started to write another chapter!**

**Sakurai: Hey! What's that supposed to mean! I've been very busy lately!**

**Kaoru: Oh, really? And what were you busy with?**

**Sakurai: Oh, nothing…**

**Kaoru: If you don't want me to call you lazy, then you at least have to tell me what you've been up to.**

**Sakurai: no I don't!**

**Kaoru: Yes you do!**

**Sakurai: nu-uh!**

**Kaoru: Fine then… LAZY!**

**Sakurai: I am not lazy!**

**Kaoru: Then why were you so busy? What were you doing?**

**Sakurai: I told you already, I was just busy!**

**Kaoru: Doing what?**

**Sakurai: just…stuff**

**Kaoru: Just tell me!**

**Sakurai: No!**

**Kaoru: Why not!**

**Sakurai: It's… Embarrassing….**

**Kaoru: Oh, well then don't worry. I won't laugh.**

**Sakurai: You promise?**

**Kaoru: Promise.**

**Sakurai: *Sigh* Well… the reason I was busy was because… I was… I… I was watching My Little Pony re-runs! There I said it! You happy?**

**Kaoru: …**

**Kaoru: …**

**Kaoru: … !**

**Sakurai: HEYYY! YOU SAID YOU WOULDN'T LAUGH!**

**Kaoru: I'm sorry…hahaha…it's just… ahaha… that's not… the…hahaha…answer I was…ahahahaha…expecting!**

**Sakurai: *pouting* I do not own own OHSHC or any of the characters. **

**Kaoru: Hey, come on. I didn't mean it.**

**Sakurai: I'm not talking to you…**

**Kaoru: *to himself* Wow… My Little Pony... *snickers***

**Sakurai: SHUT UP AND LET ME JUST WRITE THE STORY!**

The next day, Kaoru hurried toward the auditorium. He spotted Kana waiting outside the door, leaning against the wall, looking angry and tapping her foot impatiently. She frowned when she saw me and, despite my decision to try and be nice, I found myself frowning back.

As I got closer, her frown turned into a glare. "It's about time you got here." She hissed. "Or did you forget that we had an assembly to get to."

"_ME?_ You were the late one yesterday!"She ignored me, hurried into the auditorium, and found two seats near the aisle.

"May I have your attention please?" Mr. Suoh called out. I glued my eyes to the front of the auditorium, determined to ignore the hateful expression coming from Kana no matter what.

Mr. Suoh smiled out at the students. "Congratulations." He said. "You are all about to become parents!"

The auditorium erupted into surprised laughter and whispers. Mr. Suoh clapped his hands together slowly. "Quiet please."

A hush fell over the room as Mr. Suoh produced a large basket with a cloth covering it. When he removed the cloth, several students began to laugh and a few of them groaned.

Inside the basket were eggs. Lots of eggs. The all had stickers on them, some of them were pink and some of them were blue.

"Okay." Mr. Suoh said with a grin. "I'm going to ask each couple to come up on stage and receive an infant. When you get up here, I'm going to ask you a question. You and your partner will have a few seconds to discuss the question and then you must give me an answer. Each couple will be asked a different question."

"Will our question affect our grade?" Some random Honors asked.

"Only if you don't answer the question at all," He replied with a smile. "Now then, first couple…"

I started to ignore him as he called out random couples' names. Instead, I tried to be friendly towards Kana.

"So… do you want a boy or a girl?" I asked jokingly, not expecting an answer.

"Girl." She replied sternly. I raised an eyebrow at her. "May I ask why?"

"No."

"Alright! Next couple!" Mr. Suoh said on stage. "Kana Chikoku and Kaoru Hitachiin."

Kana's PoV

Kaoru nudged my arm, making me flinch involuntarily. "Let's go." He said. I nervously got to my feet and followed him down the aisle and up the stairs to the stage.

Mr. Suoh selected an egg with a blue sticker and a vein pulsed in my forehead. "It's a boy." He said solemnly. "Now your question is: what's his name."

"That's too easy." Some random kid shouted and I sent a glare in his direction before turning back to Mr. Suoh.

"Settle down." Mr. Suoh told the students. Then he glanced back to Kaoru and I. "Let's name it Steven or Bob or something." I mumbled, wishing this was over and that I was sitting on my bed at home instead of on stage.

"Whaat!" Kaoru exclaimed mockingly, making the heat rise to my face. "Don't you have any imagination?"

Well, then, you think of something." I snapped.

"I like Fido."

"That's a dog's name!"

"Well, I'd rather have a dog than a baby." He said with a shrug.

"Well, _I'd_ rather have a _dog_ than a _husband!"_

Practically the whole audience burst into laughter, making me realize with embarrassment that the whole auditorium could hear what we were saying.

"Your time is up." Mr. Suoh announced. "What is his name?"

"Stephen." I said.

"Fido." Kaoru said at the same time.

"What was that?" Mr. Suoh asked raising his brow.

"Stephen!"

"Fido!" Kaoru argued, laughing.

"I must ask the two of you to reach a decision. If you don't, your grade will be marked down five points."

"But that's not fair!" I protested.

"Life's not fair." He answered calmly, using the same tone of voice that you would use to talk to a toddler. "Now please choose a name. If you can't agree, please compromise."

I glanced at Kaoru, daring him to say a word. "His name is Stephen." I said firmly and then I saw Kaoru's eyes begin to gleam with mischief.

"Stephen Fido." I added quickly, before Kaoru could speak up again and ruin things for us both.

The audience roared with laughter and Mr. Suoh smiled. "It's unusual, but each couple is certainly free to choose the name they like best. Stephen Fido it is."

Mr. Suoh placed the egg in my hand. "Now," he said. "Stephen Fido is your responsibility. One of you must have him with you at all times, or see to it that he is properly taken care of. I'll expect you to return him intact at the end of the assignment. If he breaks, you'll lose five points off your grade."

"Sure you don't want me to hold him, Kana?" Kaoru teased. "You know how clumsy you are. Just look at how many times you've bumped into me in the last few days."

"Me!" I said, gritting my teeth. I hadn't bumped into him all by myself; he was the one who got in my way! He knew that as much as I did! My hand involuntarily balled into a fist and…

CRACKKK!

"Eeuuuu…" The audience moaned.

I looked down in horror. Runny yellow egg yolk oozed from between my fingers and dripped onto the stage. Kaoru burst out laughing and Mr. Suoh shook his head sadly.

"I-I'm sorry." I stammered, wishing I could disappear right then and there and never be seen again. I glanced out at the audience and saw all my classmates giggling. 'This is all Kaoru's fault.' I thought to myself. 'He keeps making a fool out me. I hate him so much!'

Mr. Suoh reached into his pocket and produced a handkerchief. He handed it to me with a shake of his head. "I'm afraid that's going to shave a few points off your grade." He said. I nodded unhappily as I wiped the sticky egg off my hands.

"If you're smart," Mr. Suoh said, "you will regard everything in life as learning experience - even your mistakes. I would say that Kana and Kaoru have already learned a valuable lesson about parenting."

The confused look on Kaoru's face persuaded him to continue with a better explanation.

"They've learned that when parents bicker and don't learn to control their tempers, the children suffer. Look what happened to poor little Stephen Fido.

I glanced at Kaoru. Finally, he was looking just as chagrined as I felt. Maybe now he'd quit making trouble for me and act more responsible. Mr. Suoh handed a second egg to Kaoru. "What's his name?"

Kaoru thought for a moment while I glared at him. "Stephen Fido the second," he said with a sly grin. I sighed and rolled my eyes in exasperation. Kaoru was like a five-year old.

Aiko's PoV

I felt so sorry for Kana as I watched the whole scene. This project was definitely going to make her extremely stressed very soon. Satoru and I, on the other hand, got along beautifully. We were going to have no trouble at all.

"Okay, next couple." Mr. Suoh called out after Kana and Kaoru had gotten back to their seats and Kana buried her tomato-red face in her lap. "Satoru Minoto and Aiko Kariro."

'Uh oh.' I thought to myself. 'Here's where we have to prove it.

"Let's go." Satoru whispered. I nervously wiped my damp palms my shirt and stood up to follow him. When we got onstage, Mr. Suoh very carefully handed Satoru an egg with a pink sticker. "Congratulations. It's a girl."

I glanced at Satoru and realized he was smiling at me. I hastily smiled back, hoping I didn't seem too eager.

"Now," Mr. Suoh continued, "Where do you think she should go to nursery school?"

I looked at Satoru, questioning. "What do you think?" I whispered.

"Whatever you think is fine with me," he answered.

"Well, I'm happy to go along with whatever you want," I responded.

"You're really smart." He said. "Let's send her to wherever you went to nursery school."

"Well, you're smart too. Where did you go?"

Mr. Suoh clapped his hands. "Sorry, your time is up. You must give me an answer."

My mouth felt dry and I was getting just a little bit frustrated. Normally, I'd just speak up and say that I wanted my little girl to go to Sunshine Valley Nursery School, but I didn't want Satoru to think I was bossy and opinionated. I wished Patrick would speak up, but he looked just as indecisive as I did.

Mr. Suoh shook his head sadly. "Poor little thing. She'll never get to go to nursery school because her parents can't decide where to send her."

As a few of the students laughed, I felt my cheeks growing red. Satoru looked embarrassed too. "Sit down." Mr. Suoh told us. "We have a lot more children to hand out." He looked down at his list.

"Ayaka Himamoto and Mitsuo Harata." Satoru and I left the stage, me feeling just miserable. I wondered if I had made a mistake by not speaking up. Now we'd just lost a few points off our grade.

Ayaka Himamoto hurried past us and Mitsuo had to practically run behind her to catch up.

"Hurry up." She ordered. "And let me do the talking," she commanded in a know-it-all voice. "_I_ won't have any trouble making decisions."

Satoru nudged my arm gently. "Boy." He breathed. "I'm sure glad that I'm not married to Ayaka. She's horrible." I swallowed and tried to smile. I didn't blame him either; Janet was so bossy that she sounded like a monster. Speaking up and saying what was on your mind was I bad idea, I decided. A really, really bad idea.

Haruhi's PoV

My heart thumped as I followed Hikaru down the aisle and onto the stage. "Here's your child." Mr. Suoh said, handing us an egg with a pink sticker on it. "And here's your question: Where are you going to buy her crib?"

Okay, these questions kept getting more and more out there. Some of them seemed important, but some of them, like our question, were just a waste of time.

"Where should be buy it?" Hikaru asked, looking at me. If it was anyone else, I would have told him that the logical choice was to go to Mikihouse because they had the best quality baby supplies for pretty low prices, but since it was Hikaru, my mouth went dry and I was at a loss for words. "Umm… uhh…"

I realized he was staring at me, anticipating my answer, so my heart began to thump wildly. "Well?" He pressed, leaning a little closer. My heart was pounding so much now, that I was afraid he would be able to hear it.

"Uhh… Uh… Kmart?" I responded lamely.

"Kmart it is then!" He told Mr. Suoh with a smile. Mr. Suoh nodded and we went back to our seats. I gripped the edge of my skirt, waiting for my heartbeat to return to normal.

"Hey, you okay?" Hikaru asked, worry lines between his brows.

"Y-yeah!" I exclaimed, realizing how close his face was to mine.

"You sure?" He asked. "Your face is all red. You might have a fever."

He placed his hand on my forehead and my heart nearly exploded. _Hikaru's. Hand. Is. On. My. Forehead!_

"You are kind of warm." He said, taking his hand away. "Should we go to the nurse?"

"Naahh, i-it's fine. I'll be f-fine." I mentally slapped myself. 'That went smoothly.' I though with an inward sigh.

Hikaru, still concerned, turned back to the stage to see another couple received their child. I took a deep breath and then another. I still can't believe I got paired up with Hikaru!

**Sakurai: So? How was it?**

**Kaoru: Good!**

**Kana: I liked it too.**

**Sakurai: Thanks! This is a fun story to write!**

**Hikaru: I can't wait to see what happens next!**

**Sakurai: You'll just have to wait until the next chapter!**

**Kaoru: Please read and review!**

**Hikaru: Come on! Tell me what happens next!**

**Sakurai: No!**

**Hikaru: Pleeassee!**

**Sakurai: Just be patient!**

**Hikaru: No!**


End file.
